Introduction

It has been said, rightly, that there is no law of ownership of land in England and Wales, only a law of possession. Yet ‘difficult problems arise in English real property law on the concept of possession’. The following chapters explore some of these problems, and suggest some solutions. But this chapter is concerned with the principal cause of those problems; the different meanings, and inconsistent usage, of the term ‘possession’ in English land law.

Different meanings

In English land law, we use the term ‘possession’ in three quite distinct and separate senses: first, in its proper, technical sense, as a description of the relationship between a person and an estate in land; secondly, in its vulgar sense of physical occupation of tangible land; and, thirdly, to refer to fictional ‘constructive’ possession, which is almost, but not entirely, of historical interest only.

First meaning: a relationship with a corporeal estate

This is the proper, technical meaning of the word ‘possession’ in English land law.

The fundamental point about ‘possession’ in this sense is that it does not describe the relationship between a person and any tangible property, such as a field, or a building, or a road. The combined effect of the doctrines of tenures and of estates is that there is no absolute ownership of land; only ownership of greater or lesser rights in it.